


You Don't Have to Follow Him

by gloryasme



Series: FNAF but in no particular order because the timeline doesn't exist [8]
Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Dubious Morality, Dysfunctional Family, Family Issues, Family Reunions, Family Secrets, Five Nights at Freddy’s: The Fourth Closet, Fuck the Canon, Sort of a re-write, charlie's tripod memories are bullshit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:00:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27691784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloryasme/pseuds/gloryasme
Summary: Michael wasn't really the best older brother growing up.But damn if he wasn't going to save his little sister from this monster's hands.
Relationships: Elizabeth Afton & Charlotte "Charlie" Emily, Elizabeth Afton & Michael Afton, Elizabeth Afton & Michael Afton & William Afton | Dave Miller, Elizabeth Afton & William Afton | Dave Miller, Michael Afton & Charlotte "Charlie" Emily
Series: FNAF but in no particular order because the timeline doesn't exist [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970749
Comments: 7
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

Charlie – or whoever was pretending to be her – was strange. She wanted to talk to everyone, despite John actively trying to ignore her, and yet seemed to avoid Michael at all costs.

He’d already and an idea of what was happening, but that solidified it for him. As someone carrying an illusion disk on him at all times, he could sense the effects of it on her. It did work on people – he could use himself as an example – but that didn’t seem right.

She hadn’t known how the devices worked properly. She knew what they did, but she wouldn’t have been able to code one to work the way she wanted it too. It takes work to process the image necessary.

Plus, Charlie had always been a bit awkward. This imitation stood with all the confidence she never had.

Michael did the only thing he could do. He followed her. She went to the cinema – well, it used to be. It seemed the building was being remodelled and wasn’t ready just yet to open. She slipped in through the front door, and Michael followed as quietly as he could.

It was a weird maze of hallways he had to follow her down, but he was used to it. He’d lived in the shadows for a long time. He was a silent predator in the dark.

He noticed, though, as they continued walking, her form began to change to something he almost recognised. Taller, orange pigtails, blue eyes- “Circus Baby?” He breathed the name to himself quietly.

Her form fizzed and warped like liquid. She looked like a more human-ish version of Circus Baby. Like she actually had skin instead of plastic casing.

But if she was Circus Baby, then that was, to the very least, Elizabeth’s soul as well. _What would Elizabeth be doing posing as Charlie?_ Better yet, how did she even know Charlie existed?

Michael hadn’t known until after Elizabeth had left him. And her wires had meshed with the others into Ennard. How was she singled out amongst them? Did she go back to the Sister Location? Michael had too many questions and was going to find answers.

The room she finally entered had a man in a wheelchair that Michael recognised on sight. Even if he was missing an eye and his hair. Even if his skin was a different colour. Even if he was scared beyond living. _Michael knew who that man was._

Elizabeth had found him, or maybe he found her, either way; they were working together.

Michael debated what to do in his head. Then he came to a conclusion. He sucked in his breath and stepped out of the shadows.

* * *

They were sceptical, it made sense, but they let him start working with them. They were trying to transplant William’s body bit by bit into a robotic prosthetic made of the remains of the originals. _Of the children_.

Michael spoke to Elizabeth, properly now. He asked questions. Calculated ones, to make sure that he got the answers he wanted without anyone getting suspicious. He helped her keep her front in front of the others.

_ This plan could turn out bad in too many ways-  _ His subconscious liked to remind him. He could ruin so much of what he’s worked for. His semi-friendship with John. Whatever possible relationship that could happen with Carlton. What trust Jessica and Marla had in him. He could lose everything.

He ignored it though, as he did most of his life, and kept going. Life means sacrifice – and right now, his goal was to save his sister from the man who’d ruined their lives. No matter what he’d have to lose.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This doesn't feel right but ehh. this book was a rollercoaster

Clay getting attacked was… less than helpful. Especially if Elizabeth hadn’t even found what she was looking for.

He was with John and Jessica once they were allowed into his hospital room. Clay was in and out of consciousness, so he wasn’t too much help, but he did give them an envelope full of photos and a reel. Photos of “Charlie”, to be specific.

And then John pulled out a disembodied, mechanical, rabbit head from his bag.

“This is Theodore; a toy Henry made for Charlie when we were kids.” John had explained. And then Theodore began to speak.

“Shining Star, Silver Reef.”

John did manage to hide Theodore once Marla and Carlton entered, followed by Elizabeth posing as Charlie. It was awkward, muted chatter as John and Jessica wanted to leave as quickly as they could to go check out Silver Reef.

Carlton spared Michael a wave as he left with them.

Silver Reef was a ghost town. Michael was curious as to what signal was reaching Theodore to make the broken rabbit speak – he wondered why John even had him – but figured he knew what they’d find. He owned a house out here that he’d given the keys to. It was generally used for storage…

They arrived at a house with a star over the top.

John and Jessica fidgeted in place, riddled with anxiety, so Michael knocked on the door. It opened just enough a woman could stick her head out.

“Aunt Jen?” John asked.

“I’m someone’s Aunt Jen.” She replied, staring dead set at Michael. Then her eyes trailed over to John. “I don’t suppose I’m yours though.”

“Can we come in?” Michael asked. Jen looked back at him.

“Who’re they?” she asked.

“We’re friends of Charlie’s,” Jessica said, though she eyes Michael as if to silently ask how he knew her.

Jen looked between them all, then allowed them inside. She provided no help to them, really. But Michael could see it in her eyes. A secret. She’d had this look in her eyes the moment she’d met Michael. He’d never known what it was, but he knew it had something to do with Charlie. (Maybe that’s why he gave her the key. ~~He hadn’t expected her to use it~~.)

Someone knocked on the door, and they hid. They hid in a spare bedroom filled with boxes. Jessica was by the door, attempting to listen in to the conversation Jen was having with her guest – Elizabeth.

John was looking around the room and leant down towards a chest. Michael didn’t recognise it – Jen must’ve brought it with her. John opened it and gasped sharply.

“Be quiet.” Jessica hissed, leaning closer to the door.

“Come here!” John snapped back.

Michael looked into the box as John went and dragged Jessica over. There was Charlie, laying curled into a ball in the box.

Michael still wasn’t a hundred per cent sure how Charlie was still here. He found her body in that alley when she died – he _saw_ it! Elizabeth and William hadn’t explained much to him either. ~~Something about a lack of trust.~~

There were footsteps in the hall, and they all managed to hide in the closet. Jessica covered them by snapping the window lock and throwing it open. Elizabeth took the bait and left through the window.

“Let’s go.” Michael ushered them out. John was carrying Charlie as they went through the hall. Jen’s body was in the hall; slumped over, covered in blood.

“Oh, my God,” Jessica said quietly, clamping a hand over her mouth.

“We can’t save her now,” Michael said. John and Jessica leave through the front door, but Michael lingers. He leans down to Jen and closes her eyes.

“Rest.” He tells her if she might still be listening. “Don’t be like them. Don’t be like us. I’ll fix this, okay?”

She doesn’t respond. She can’t. Michael just hoped she heard what he said.

“Don’t be like Henry.” He adds, before following John and Jessica out the front door.


	3. Chapter 3

It was probably a bit inappropriate, but Michael was checking Charlie’s body for the scars. John and Jessica were there, watching him, and it’s not like she stripped her bare. He lifted up her sleeves.

On her flesh were strange-looking marks that sure as hell matched the ones on Michael. Semi-healed scars on the shapes of springlocks. Some were different, considering Charlie was in a creature designed to kill whilst Michael had been forced into one of the suits.

“Does anyone know a doctor?” He asked, tracing the scars on her wrist.

“Marla,” Jessica says. “I’ll go get her.”

“What about the fake Charlie?” John asked as she left. “What if she comes back?”

“Is there a good place to hide someone in your apartment?” Michael countered.

“Uh…”

“Find someplace,” Michael says. “Watch her, make sure she’s okay. I’m gonna check up on some stuff.”

“What’s more important to you than Charlie right now?” John spat.

Michael blinks at him, frowning. “What I do is none of your business.”

He shoved past John and slammed the door behind him. Where did he need to go? Where was the closest? Home was. He could go home. He probably should – William might’ve sent Elizabeth there to do something.

The front door was closed when he got there, maybe Elizabeth hadn’t broken in? He doubted it. Michael unlocked the door and entered his home. It seemed fine enough the further he kept walking.

He saw a shadow and froze. Elizabeth, as Charlie, was sitting on the couch; one leg crossed over the other with her arms over the back. She looked like she owned it.

“Hey, Mikey.” She cooed.

“Hey,” He replied curtly. Father wasn’t here. He could use this. “Have you seen your room?”

Elizabeth faltered. She was obviously here for a purpose, and she knew he was trying to distract her. But curiosity is a curse.

“I haven’t.” She admitted.

“Do you want to?” Michael gestured up the stairs and made his way up without waiting for an answer. Elizabeth was forced to follow him, whether she wanted to see or not.

He waited outside the door and nodded towards it, encouraging Elizabeth to open the door herself. She hesitates, for a reason Michael couldn't properly decipher, then pushes her door open.

The walls were painted in a steel blue colour. The walls were covered in posters of various famous scientists. There were a few odd bits of mechanical parts and circuit boards around the room, specifically in a trash bin beside a desk. A children’s drawing taped onto the wall stood out amongst the white and blue and green scientist theme of the room.

“Surprising?” Michael asked, leaning against the door frame. He noted how Elizabeth stepped into the room as if it hurt. She stood and stared into the room, into every little crevasse and corner that was different from her memory.

“What the hell?” she spat. “What happened to my room? W-where are my toys? My posters- my things?!”

“Last I checked; in a box in the attic,” Michael replied. “Father sort of replaced you and the little one after you died.”

“Little one?” She echoed. “We had a younger…”

Michael stood up straight and hesitated to place a hand on her shoulder. “Liz, are you okay?”

“We had a younger brother.” She says weakly. Tears began to well in her eyes and she had to work to hold back a sob. “Oh, god, Michael. I don’t even remember his name!” She curled down onto the floor and dragged her fingers through her hair. “H-how long has it been?”

Michael clicked his tongue. “Fourteen years since he died.” He knelt down beside her with a hand on her back. “I don’t remember his name either. Don’t even remember his face.”

“We… we really mean nothing to him…” Elizabeth whimpers. “It’s not fair! We’re his family! His _blood_! He should care about US! Not Charlie! Not Henry! US!” She keeled over, tears falling over her cheeks – but she doesn’t cry. “It’s not fair…”

“Life isn’t fair,” Michael replied. “Father used me as one of his experiments – did you know that?”

Elizabeth looked at him, confused. She shook her head.

“My friends and I-” he clarified. “We were all his little guinea pigs. He’s been experimenting with remnant for a long time, Liz.”

“What did he do to you?”

Michael shrugged. “Old man wanted to be immortal. ‘Course, he wasn’t gonna start with himself. I dunno how he convinced us to do it for him, but we did.”

“Was it successful?”

“Seems so, I mean, you did gouge out my organs and…” He gestured to his body. “I’m still kicking.”

Elizabeth giggled lightly, then looked around the room again. “He really replaced us, huh?”

“Two years after you died.” Michael agreed. “I don’t know much about it because I was…”

“In the hospital.” Elizabeth finished. “I remember that. Daddy never liked kids. It’s strange for him to adopt new ones.”

“ _Adopt_.” Michael mocked. “He didn’t just take them in, they really were replacements for you. He would’ve just killed them otherwise.”

“I don’t understand.” Elizabeth shook her head. “Why? He doesn’t even care about us – why replace us?”

“Father always wanted a family.” Michael shrugged. “At least, I think so. And I think he loved us… in his own way. But even that love didn’t outweigh his desire for power.”

“You think he loved us?”

“He said so. And the old man doesn’t like to lie.”

“You lied to him a lot though.” Elizabeth counters. “Always sneaking out or hiding injuries. How did you become so good at lying if he never taught you?”

“He was strict, I guess.” Michael shrugged. “We were always walking on eggshells when we were with him. Mom too, really. Neither of them were really… great parents.”

Elizabeth laughed bitterly. “Henry wasn’t either. He neglected his children and then abandoned the other when one died. Rebuilt his dead one then killed himself before he could finish. Neglected said reincarnation.”

“Henry didn’t hurt his kids,” Michael muttered.

Elizabeth looked at him. “Not like Daddy. But they were very similar. Always prioritising their work over their families. Neglect and abandonment are not nice feelings to dwell in. And I feel his rage too, sometimes. He poured so much rage into the final design of Charlie, the one he gave up on.”

“He rebuilt her, huh?” Michael asked numbly, and Elizabeth goes pale.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the actual time frame is a little messed up now because I'm doing this off of memory but I don't care

“I have to go!” Elizabeth left abruptly. Michael idly wonders what she’d wanted to talk about before.

“Well, that’s something.” He muttered to himself. “Father must’ve known, ‘n so did Jen.” Michael stood up and wandered out of the room. What was he doing again? A phone – he needed a phone.

He slid down the stair banister and wandered towards the landline. He dialled a number he’d long since memorised and listened to it ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Sammy.”

* * *

Michael was ready to leave again when the phone rang. He paused, considering it, then sighed and answered.

“Hey, Mike!”

“Oh, Carlton, hey.” He responded. “I don’t remember giving you my phone number.”

“Charlie did last year,” Carlton replied. Did he memorise it? “And I have a very important question.”

“What’s up?”

“Did your Dad ever make these small, disk things that can manipulate how the animatronics are perceived?”

“Uh… yeah?”

“Do you know how to code them?”

“Yeah, I guess?”

“Awesome! How would you re-wire one to hide someone instead?”

“Uh- why?”

“I’m trying to re-wire Charlie’s project thing.”

“Well, I don’t know how she wired it so I wouldn’t know,” Michael muttered. “Where are you? I’ll come to see what I can do.”

“I’m at Jessica’s apartment.” He proceeds to rattle off an address.

“Alright, I’ll see you there.”

“Thanks!”

So, maybe Michael drove over the speed limit. No one except him would know.

He knocked on the door to Jessica’s apartment, and Carlton let him in, dragging him to her bedroom where the pieces were all scattered about. Carlton held up something that looked like a hearing aid.

“I pulled it apart, but I don’t know how the wires work.” He said as Michael inspected it.

“Why are you trying to re-wire it?” he asked.

“Well, John came up with a theory. These devices are used to help these little… things-” he gestured to Charlie’s project. “See you and be a part of their conversation. So, what if we rewired it and it hid us from them – and therefore other animatronics?”

“I see.”

“Hopefully they don’t.” Carlton laughed as Michael stared at him. “I- uh, it was a joke.”

“I know,” Michael replied. He looked back to the hearing aid. “How many of these are there?”

“Two.” Carlton picked up the other to confirm.

“Well,” Michael muttered, opening the casing. “See here, there’s nothing in this section.” He showed Carlton, who popped the second one open and copied him.

“Okay.”

“So, then we swap it with these ones.” He added, demonstrating and making sure Carlton watched him so he could do the same.

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Carlton asked good-naturedly. “I mean; Charlie made these, not your Dad.”

“Charlie’s robotics are a parody of Henry’s. I know how Henry’s mechanics work.” Michael replied.

“Oh, you knew Henry?” Carlton mused. “That makes sense. Guess I never thought about it, though. What was he like?”

Michael shrugged. “Better than Father, but not good.”

Carlton hummed. “You always say 'Father'.” He said quietly as if Michael wasn’t supposed to hear him.

“Yeah?” Michael hissed.

“Oh- nothing. It just sounds strange.” Carlton stuttered. “Like, wouldn’t you call him Dad?”

“Nope. I used to… but not anymore.”

“What happened?”

Michael raised his arms and gestured vaguely around him. “Everything happened.”

Carlton hummed. Going off of his own experiences with William Afton, Michael must’ve gone through worse living with the man for seventeen years. “That’s fair.”

“The only way we can tell if these work is to test it out with an animatronic,” Michael said.

Carlton gestured wordlessly to Charlie’s project.

Michael stared at it a moment. “These are wired to them specifically, so any messing of these wires would cancel out, but that doesn’t mean they’d hide us from other creatures.”

Carlton sighed. “So, we just have to assume they’ll work?”

“I guess so,” Michael replied. “Come on, I’ll follow you out to John’s apartment.”

When they got there, Marla was sitting on the couch, alone.

“Where are the others?” Carlton asked.

“That other-Charlie showed up,” Marla explains. “We hid our Charlie until she left, and Jessica followed her. Then Charlie woke up and she and John left to go somewhere.”

“Go where?” Michael asked, handing the other device over to Carlton (who hadn’t seemed to realise Michael still had it).

“Charlie’s Aunt’s house?” Marla shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Michael swore under his breath and left without another explanation.


	5. Chapter 5

He practically kicked down the door to get in. Michael spared Jen’s body in the hall a glance as he jogged past and rounded into the hallway. John was on the ground, a gash on the side of his head, fading into and out of consciousness.

Michael dropped to his knees and pulled John into a sitting position on the wall. “Hey, John, stay with me here, don’t go to sleep,” John muttered incoherently and moved his head. He muttered Charlie’s name and weakly gestured to a door down the hall. “Don’t close your eyes, John, alright? I’ll help Charlotte, okay? You just stay awake.” He was up and into the room John had gestured to without much more thought about it.

“It’s not FAIR!” Elizabeth had Charlie cornered, but Michael could see something just barely hidden behind Charlie. “I was never good enough! But you! Oh, he just NEEDED to see you again!”

“ELIZABETH!” Michael yelled over her, and she froze. Her head turned as she looked over her shoulder at him. Charlie’s was watching him too. Michael opened up his arms. “Come here, Liz. We don’t have to go back to him.”

“You don’t understand, Mikey.” She whimpered. “He’ll hunt us down if we leave.”

“Liz, he doesn’t _care_ enough to look for us.” Michael reasoned. “I’ve been living without him for the past seven and a half years.”

“And he found you again!” she cried.

“Because I came back!” He yelled. “We can leave the state! The country! He can’t follow us as he is. Just let Charlotte go.”

Elizabeth looked back at Charlie, tears pouring down her cheeks. And she stepped back. He backed right into Michael, who pulled her into a tight hug in the middle of the hallway. Charlie stepped out, walking around them awkwardly, and knelt down to John.

He was blinking rapidly and prodding at the wound on his head, but much more awake now. “Are you okay?” he asked Charlie.

She scoffed. “Are you?”

“‘M 'right.” He grimaced and looked over at Michael, rocking Elizabeth in his arms and murmuring quietly in her ear. “How exactly do they know each other?”

“Dunno.” Charlie shrugged. “But they seem close.”

Michael stood, bringing Elizabeth to her feet and cupped her face. “Are you okay?” He asked.

“I don’t know.” She replied, taking his hands if only to assure herself he was there. “But maybe I will be.”

Michael snorted and kissed her forehead. Elizabeth giggled and wrapped her arms around him again.

“Not to break up… whatever this is,” John muttered. “But what the hell is happening?”

They turned to John and Charlie as if only now realising they had an audience. Elizabeth went red and hid her face in Michael’s shirt.

“Elizabeth here -” Michael gestured to her like an eccentric showman. “- is my little sister.”

“Sister?” John and Charlie echoed.

“Yep. Now I’d like to get out of this house.” Michael led the way out.

“I don’t understand?” John said. “She’s _your sister_ , but with _Charlie’s_ memories?”

“To put it simply,” Michael replied. “Charlotte died when she was a child. Henry, in his grief, created four robots to replace her. Your Charlotte-” he waved a hand at Charlie. “- is the third one. The fourth one was never finished and was later found by my Father. He used the parts to create Circus Baby. The robot now has two AIs, the “adult Charlotte” and “Circus Baby” the entertainer and can switch between the two.”

“Two separate identities,” Charlie muttered.

“Sure. Anyway, Father made Circus Baby to kidnap children. Elizabeth happened to be on the receiving end. She died inside the suit and her soul possessed it creating three identities if you will.”

“I can talk to them,” Elizabeth said. “But over time we’ve sort of merged into one consciousness.”

“I noticed,” Charlie added. “You kept talking between them, how it is to see both sides of an experience.”

Elizabeth nods. John looked lost but decided it’d be better not to ask again.

“Let’s get John to the hospital,” Michael said, looking at the still bleeding wound.

“Oh, thank god.” He muttered.

Elizabeth grimaced. “Sorry.”


	6. Chapter 6

“You look worried.” Elizabeth muses, watching Michael’s expressions shift. They were standing outside a little way from the hospital so Michael could smoke. Elizabeth was only there because she hadn’t left Michael’s side since he’d found her.

“Haven’t heard from the others yet,” Michael replied.

“Jessica was with Daddy,” Elizabeth replies. “I can’t assume she’s even still alive with the animatronics there.”

“Animatronics?” Michael turned to look at her. “What animatronics?”

Elizabeth sighed. “When we left you, I was uh… kicked out for being too bossy. I didn’t know what to do so I went back to the underground location. I found Daddy there, in the stupid bunny costume. He made some new endoskeletons and re-used the casings of the Funtimes. They’re more vicious now. That dumb ‘Circus Baby’s Pizza World’ is just a front.”

Michael swore under his breath. “Should’a figured.” He muttered. “Do you know where the others went?”

“I think Freddy’s AI took over as the boss,” Elizabeth replied. “But no, I don’t know where they went.”

Michael hums and looks out to the roads again, watching the cars speed past.

“What’re you thinking about?” Elizabeth asked.

“Jessica’s not the only one we haven’t heard from,” Michael muttered. “Marla and Carlton have been M.I.A as well.”

Elizabeth hums dryly. “Well, I can’t say anything for certain. Where were they last?”

“John’s apartment. I called there, but no one answered.”

Michael took a long drag of the cigarette in his hand. Elizabeth watched him, tilting her head slightly. “Daddy hated smoking.” She commented offhandedly.

“I _was_ the disappointment,” Michael responded curtly.

Elizabeth blinked. “You said that Daddy told you he loved us?” she asked, almost hesitantly. “When did that happen?”

“Not long after the little one died,” Michael replied. “You and Mum were sleeping, and Dad had just gotten home from work. It was blackout drunk on the couch. Surprised I didn’t get smacked across the face just for that.”

“You were “blackout drunk” and still remember what happened?”

“I think the pain I woke up with sobered me up enough.”

“Did he hurt you?”

Michael shrugged. “He was cleaning some wounds I had.”

“You had wounds?” Elizabeth asked. “Where?”

Michael looks at her darkly for a moment. “Cuts.” He said.

Elizabeth bit her lip. “Oh.”

She laid down in the grass, spreading her hair out and staring at the sky. She relished in the sounds of the city; birds chirping, cars roaring past and the odd sound of people talking as pedestrians walking the streets.

“Mikey?” She called.

“Yeah, Liz?” he answered. Elizabeth watched him shuffle and lay himself down in the grass beside her.

“Do you think you could change the illusion disk? I don’t want to look like Charlie.”

“I can do that.” He said. “I did the same for myself.”

Elizabeth pauses. “When we used you to escape… did that hurt?”

“Yep. Hurt a lot. But I think it was worth it.”

“You died.” Elizabeth deadpanned.

“And you got your freedom. Nothing more I want in this world than you to be happy.”

“You don’t have to do that, Michael.”

“Nothing else I have left,” Michael replied. “I have you and the other two keeping me going.”

“The other two?”

“You know those kids Father adopted?”

“Yeah?”

“They’re the same age as Charlotte and her friends. They’re both in college now.”

Elizabeth kept her eyes on the sky. “What’re their names.”

“Samantha and Drew.”

Elizabeth hums to herself. “It’d be nice to have a little sister.” She mused.

Michael turned his head to her and stared at her for a moment.

“What?” She asked.

“Wanna see something cool?” Michael asked.

* * *

The house seemed to loom over the front yard in morbid anticipation. The car slowed and stopped, the diver nervously taping at the steering wheel.

“Thanks,” Samantha said to him, slipping out of the car to look up at the house. This place was her home for eight years. Her mother, when she found her, had tried to coerce her back to her house, but Samantha was happier with her boys.

Michael, despite his initial awkwardness, was admittedly a very caring person. Someone she quickly got along with – it was strange to her. Most people didn’t like Samantha. And Drew, the little boy whose first conversation with her involved ghosts was a good friend to her up until they ran away together. _She couldn’t wait to see them again._

The car drove away, too fast to be following the speed limit, but Samantha ignored it in favour of jogging up to the front door. She almost knocked, when a car horn cut her off. She turned and faced the car parking itself in the driveway.

Blonde hair stuck out of the window. “Hey!” Drew greeted energetically.

“Hi.” She greeted back. He slipped out of the car and walked up to her.

“Need help with those?” He asked, gesturing to her bags. “ _Doctor_ Afton?” for some reason, she liked her last name, even if everyone who heard it asked if she knew to William Afton.

“No thanks, I can carry my own bags, Mr Griffiths.” She replied, playing along with his game. Drew laughed. “I never understood why you changed your name back.” She adds, knocking on the door.

Drew shrugged. “Eh, well. Whenever people associated me with William Afton, they thought I’d be like him, and that doesn’t translate well when you want to work with children.”

“Fair enough.” Samantha chuckled, and the door swung open.

“Hey, guys.” Michael greeted. Samantha dropped her bags as she and Drew simultaneously attacked Michael in a hug. He wheezed as they hit the floor. “Ow.”

“Sorry, but it’s been too long,” Drew replied, standing up. He and Samantha helped Michael back to his feet.

“It’s fine,” Michael said. “Come in, there’s some people I want you to meet.”

“Is this that “surprise” you mentioned?” Samantha asked.

Michael shrugged at her, and they left her bags in the entryway as he led them into the kitchen. A girl was sitting on a chair, nursing a glass of wine in her hand.

Her hair fell down her back in straight orange locks, and her eyes are bright green. She perked up when they entered the kitchen and smiled brightly at them.

“Oh, hello.” Samantha greeted awkwardly. She was not the best at human interaction.

“Hey, I’m Elizabeth! It’s nice to meet you.” The girl replied, holding out her hand.

Drew paused, looking between her and Michael. “As in… Elizabeth Afton?”

She flicked her hair over her shoulder. “The one and only.”

“But- we thought… we thought you were-”

“Dead?” a new voice asked. The four turned to the final person in the kitchen, standing on his knees peering into a cupboard. 

“What’re you looking for?” Michael asked.

“Coffee.” The unnamed guest replied.

“How do you know what coffee tastes like?” Elizabeth asked.

He shrugged. Michael sighed and gestured to him, turning to talk to Samantha and Drew. “That’s Kenneth.”

“Welcome to the family,” Kenneth remarks, sounding as dead as he (probably) was.

“Glad to be here,” Drew replied.


End file.
